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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Where did you ________________ them?
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. mug — a face
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. clip — to cut
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. cold — an illness
  12. mug — a cup
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. clip — for paper
  15. mug — to rob
  16. clip — a video
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. lash — to lash out

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com